stefwano Posted September 12, 2011 #1 Share Posted September 12, 2011 We have booked to go to NZ on the Sea Princess later this year. Originally given a 6pm early dining time which was fine but have now been advised it has changed to 5.30pm. This will now mean getting back to the ship from shore tours and virtually having to go straight for dinner which seems absolutely ridiculous. Thought about just still going to the dining room between 5-45 – 6pm but have been told dining room may close its door at 5.45pm. Have also been advised that the only way to now change to late dinner is to be wait listed. Surely 5.30pm is far too early for dining, especially factoring in day light savings:( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rkmw Posted September 12, 2011 #2 Share Posted September 12, 2011 We have booked to go to NZ on the Sea Princess later this year. Originally given a 6pm early dining time which was fine but have now been advised it has changed to 5.30pm. This will now mean getting back to the ship from shore tours and virtually having to go straight for dinner which seems absolutely ridiculous. Thought about just still going to the dining room between 5-45 – 6pm but have been told dining room may close its door at 5.45pm. Have also been advised that the only way to now change to late dinner is to be wait listed. Surely 5.30pm is far too early for dining, especially factoring in day light savings:( there's a big thread on the princess board but you could always see the Maitre D on the first day and change to late dinner http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1479809 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobhsv Posted September 12, 2011 #3 Share Posted September 12, 2011 Hi, We too are really upset over this change in time. I doubt that we will make it for dinner in several ports, like Napier for example, where we sail at 7pm. A couple of our other tours don't get back until 5pm or 5.15pm. I already have visions of myself, running towards the dining room with wet hair, missing my shoes. The NZ cruises are very port intensive....perhaps I will lose weight.....and the list goes on!! I am now having to cancel some of our tours that we have prebooked, and cannot book Princess tours either......as we would still miss out on early dining. Bad decision for OZ/NZ cruises. Jen and Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rkmw Posted September 12, 2011 #4 Share Posted September 12, 2011 hi Jen, i was reading the thread on the princess board and i think they made the change because people wanted to see the early show and when they got there most of the seats were taken.....if you're cutting it fine you could always eat in the buffett or grab a pizza....we always eat in the buffett but thats our choice and sometimes they have some nice food and plenty of sweets bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobhsv Posted September 12, 2011 #5 Share Posted September 12, 2011 there's a big thread on the princess board but you could always see the Maitre D on the first day and change to late dinner http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1479809 Hi Bob, I think Stefwano was attempting to let others know of this change via this section that pertains only to aussie/nz cruises. The late sitting is already waitlisted, on our cruise, and possibly others. Worth a try for the 500 odd passengers on early sitting though:D Jen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Izabelle Posted September 12, 2011 #6 Share Posted September 12, 2011 I just made a booking direct with Princess for Oct 30th NZ cruise as they had a great special on it, while making the booking I was asked early or late dinner and I chose early thinking it would be 6 pm, however on checking the personaliser it was down as 5.30 pm, this is just a bit to early for us so I rang Princess and changed to late dinner which is now 7.45 not the usual 8 15, This cruise must be quieter than yours as we were changed to late straight away and it is confirmed on the personaliser. I agree with you though that getting back after a day in port means really rushing to get to dinner at 5 30, I wonder if it is the same on Dawn and Sun Princess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
callmewhatever Posted September 12, 2011 #7 Share Posted September 12, 2011 Stewano, what cruise r u on? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rkmw Posted September 12, 2011 #8 Share Posted September 12, 2011 I just made a booking direct with Princess for Oct 30th NZ cruise as they had a great special on it, while making the booking I was asked early or late dinner and I chose early thinking it would be 6 pm, however on checking the personaliser it was down as 5.30 pm, this is just a bit to early for us so I rang Princess and changed to late dinner which is now 7.45 not the usual 8 15, This cruise must be quieter than yours as we were changed to late straight away and it is confirmed on the personaliser. I agree with you though that getting back after a day in port means really rushing to get to dinner at 5 30, I wonder if it is the same on Dawn and Sun Princess. yes Izabelle it would be the same times on the Dawn & Sun also the prices are coming down, we got an email last night on 3 cruises to NZ on the Dawn & Sea Princess in October going for $1073 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Izabelle Posted September 12, 2011 #9 Share Posted September 12, 2011 Hi Bob...Princess cruises have a past passenger price of $998. we received an email from Princess and so booked with them for the first time as such a great price for 13 nights. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobhsv Posted September 13, 2011 #10 Share Posted September 13, 2011 Yes, I have been watching the prices come down for Sea Princess cruises. Bad luck though for us, we are stuck with the higher fares.....pays to wait until last minute sometimes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Kinkacruiser Posted September 13, 2011 #11 Share Posted September 13, 2011 Being a Queenslander, I never realised until now that a 5.30pm dinner time is actually 4.30pm daylight time for those cruising between October and March. Luckily our cruise is in April :p and we have the 5.30 slot, so not too bad. The following year we'll be on anytime on the Diamond :p Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bazzaw Posted September 13, 2011 #12 Share Posted September 13, 2011 It seems to me that early dining is most popular on AUS based ships - but I cannot recall it being as early as 5.30 PM. We have always wanted early dinner times - but on our last cruise, we decided to try late dinner 8PM. It worked well for us - and I think we will be dining late from now on. There are many reasons why it is a better time - the most important being that I am still digesting lunch around 6PM .:p Barry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rugbypopsie Posted September 13, 2011 #13 Share Posted September 13, 2011 We have booked to go to NZ on the Sea Princess later this year. Originally given a 6pm early dining time which was fine but have now been advised it has changed to 5.30pm. This will now mean getting back to the ship from shore tours and virtually having to go straight for dinner which seems absolutely ridiculous. Thought about just still going to the dining room between 5-45 – 6pm but have been told dining room may close its door at 5.45pm. Have also been advised that the only way to now change to late dinner is to be wait listed. Surely 5.30pm is far too early for dining, especially factoring in day light savings:( It is too early..I always opt for the late sitting however on most port days people are too tired to dress for dinner and just go to the buffet..or have something on the deck by the pool. Maybe you could try to book the steak house for those evenings? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aus Traveller Posted September 13, 2011 #14 Share Posted September 13, 2011 On our recent cruises on Sun Princess they had open sitting dining in the dining room on port days. On sea days they had shown the dinner time as 5.30pm but when we boarded we found it was actually 5.45m and they didn't mind if we turned up at 6pm. We didn't want to inconvenience the waiters by being any later than that. There was no problem at all in getting on late dinner sitting, but early dinner was waitlisted when we boarded. That was soon sorted out and there were no waiting lists. I cannot guarantee that it will be the same on the Sea Princess as it will depend on the maitre d'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patatie Posted September 13, 2011 #15 Share Posted September 13, 2011 We are booked on the Dawn round NZ in Dec/Jan. We booked for 6pm dinner, but then found out it had changed to 5.30pm. Given how port intensive this cruise is (leaving most ports AFTER 5pm) we called our TA and changed to late sitting. We were told there is no "Anytime Dining" on this cruise. We figure we'd rather miss the early show if need be than our MDR dinner! Not to mention 5.30 is WAY too early to eat IMO. Esp given that afternoon tea is 3-4, and there is no longer a 24 hour buffet (apparently) if we get hungry later in the night! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aus Traveller Posted September 13, 2011 #16 Share Posted September 13, 2011 We are booked on the Dawn round NZ in Dec/Jan. We booked for 6pm dinner, but then found out it had changed to 5.30pm. Given how port intensive this cruise is (leaving most ports AFTER 5pm) we called our TA and changed to late sitting. We were told there is no "Anytime Dining" on this cruise. We figure we'd rather miss the early show if need be than our MDR dinner! Not to mention 5.30 is WAY too early to eat IMO. Esp given that afternoon tea is 3-4, and there is no longer a 24 hour buffet (apparently) if we get hungry later in the night! You are correct when you say there is no 'Anytime Dining' on Princess Aust ships. On the Sun Princess on port days (where sailway was late in the afternoon) passengers rolled up and were seated wherever there was space. The dining room was far from full on these days as many people went to the buffet. We went to our usual table anyway. By the way, I know 5.30 or 5.45 sounds early for dinner, but the food is not brought to the table at that time. It is probably around 6.30 by the time you get your main course and the meal is usually finished around 7.15. But, each to their own!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jfadra Posted September 13, 2011 #17 Share Posted September 13, 2011 We were on the Dawn Princess in October last year and although our early dinner booking always showed 5.30, when onboard it was 6.00 and you could come in up to 6.15. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bazzaw Posted September 13, 2011 #18 Share Posted September 13, 2011 On our last cruise- we had great success in going to the EARLY show and then to the LATE dinner. This was basically opposite to all cruises we have done in the past - we think we will continue this routine. Why was it successful? Well, firstly it allowed us to get a good seat for the show. We would go to the theatre about 45 minutes early (while the great majority of passengers were having the popular early dinner), get a good seat and partake of a drink while we were waiting. The show would finish just before we were to enter the Dining Room for late dinner - so no waiting around for dinner, and we actually felt hungry enough to eat. :) Barry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Waynetor Posted September 14, 2011 #19 Share Posted September 14, 2011 On the Sea Princess Nv 12 sailing roll call there is a lot of discusion on this. I have copied one post "Two days ago I emailed the CEO of Princess expressing our extreme disappointment on hearing that the early dining option had been brought forward to 5.30 pm. I requested that consideration be given to reverting to the later time of 6pm (5.30 being considered late afternoon in Australia not dinner time, closeness to afternoon tea time, missing the bulk of sailaway times) I added a further inconvenience of having to return to the ship earlier on port days when discussing the matter with the CS representative). A representative from Customer Services just phoned in response to this email and advised that the change had been made for "operational" reasons, when specifically asked to provide them her response was less than satisfactory. As we have another cruise booked for February I asked whether this would be the case too. The response was that for operational reasons it was an across the board decision that early dining would commence at 5.30 on all ships and that there was always the option of casual dining. I queried whether the late sitting was available and asked what the show times would be before making a decision to pursue this option. Her response was I would need to contact Reservations and get myself wait-listed and Show times would not be finalised until the time of departure. I consider this totally unsatisfactory and would encourage others to contact Princess and express their displeasure at this latest development." The ceo is A Buckelew, his email is abuckelew@princess.com To me this whole thing stinks of Princess trying to save money by forcing people to use the buffett instead of the dinning room. Anybody have an explanation way the Sea Princess is able to provide anytime dinning while doing Alaska cruises but cna't do it while sailing from Sydney? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ILVTX Posted September 14, 2011 #20 Share Posted September 14, 2011 We will be on the Sea Princess in February. Many of the previous posts have used the phrase "dress for dinner". These port days probably won't be formal nights. Ideal circumstances would enable a shower and change of clothes for a 5:30 dinner. However, getting back to the ship at 5:15 is not an ideal situation. Our plan is to wear something like khakis and a nice shirt or blouse on the tour, then go straight into the dining room. Will it be so hot in Napier that we will be offensive? The tour is just a few hours long, and we will be freshly showered (with deodorant amply applied) when it begins. Since we always have early dining, I have failed to find a big problem with the 5:30 hour. But that's just me. Patsy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red Hat Cruise Cat Posted September 14, 2011 #21 Share Posted September 14, 2011 On the Sea Princess Nv 12 sailing roll call there is a lot of discusion on this. I have copied one post "Two days ago I emailed the CEO of Princess expressing our extreme disappointment on hearing that the early dining option had been brought forward to 5.30 pm. I requested that consideration be given to reverting to the later time of 6pm (5.30 being considered late afternoon in Australia not dinner time, closeness to afternoon tea time, missing the bulk of sailaway times) I added a further inconvenience of having to return to the ship earlier on port days when discussing the matter with the CS representative). A representative from Customer Services just phoned in response to this email and advised that the change had been made for "operational" reasons, when specifically asked to provide them her response was less than satisfactory. As we have another cruise booked for February I asked whether this would be the case too. The response was that for operational reasons it was an across the board decision that early dining would commence at 5.30 on all ships and that there was always the option of casual dining. I queried whether the late sitting was available and asked what the show times would be before making a decision to pursue this option. Her response was I would need to contact Reservations and get myself wait-listed and Show times would not be finalised until the time of departure. I consider this totally unsatisfactory and would encourage others to contact Princess and express their displeasure at this latest development." The ceo is A Buckelew, his email is abuckelew@princess.com To me this whole thing stinks of Princess trying to save money by forcing people to use the buffett instead of the dinning room. Anybody have an explanation way the Sea Princess is able to provide anytime dinning while doing Alaska cruises but cna't do it while sailing from Sydney?[/quote] Great Question!!! I love Anytime Dining and am very disappointed that it is not available on the "Aussie" Princess sailings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aussie57 Posted September 14, 2011 #22 Share Posted September 14, 2011 On the Sea Princess Nv 12 sailing roll call there is a lot of discusion on this. I have copied one post"Two days ago I emailed the CEO of Princess expressing our extreme disappointment on hearing that the early dining option had been brought forward to 5.30 pm. I requested that consideration be given to reverting to the later time of 6pm (5.30 being considered late afternoon in Australia not dinner time, closeness to afternoon tea time, missing the bulk of sailaway times) I added a further inconvenience of having to return to the ship earlier on port days when discussing the matter with the CS representative). A representative from Customer Services just phoned in response to this email and advised that the change had been made for "operational" reasons, when specifically asked to provide them her response was less than satisfactory. As we have another cruise booked for February I asked whether this would be the case too. The response was that for operational reasons it was an across the board decision that early dining would commence at 5.30 on all ships and that there was always the option of casual dining. I queried whether the late sitting was available and asked what the show times would be before making a decision to pursue this option. Her response was I would need to contact Reservations and get myself wait-listed and Show times would not be finalised until the time of departure. I consider this totally unsatisfactory and would encourage others to contact Princess and express their displeasure at this latest development." The ceo is A Buckelew, his email is abuckelew@princess.com To me this whole thing stinks of Princess trying to save money by forcing people to use the buffett instead of the dinning room. I am from the Nov 12 Rollcall & after seeing this post we also emailed Mr Buckelow but interestingly we received a different response in the form of a phonecall from a Princess Customer Service Rep. He didn't give us any of the "operational" stuff & didn't actually give a reason at all for the time change, he did, however, say that there would be no problem if we didn't turn up until closer to 6pm especially considering there's usually queues when the MDR first opens. Works for us. Go figure? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aus Traveller Posted September 14, 2011 #23 Share Posted September 14, 2011 I am from the Nov 12 Rollcall & after seeing this post we also emailed Mr Buckelow but interestingly we received a different response in the form of a phonecall from a Princess Customer Service Rep. He didn't give us any of the "operational" stuff & didn't actually give a reason at all for the time change, he did, however, say that there would be no problem if we didn't turn up until closer to 6pm especially considering there's usually queues when the MDR first opens.Works for us. Go figure? I would agree with Mr. Buckelow that there are queues on the first night when people have to be shown to their table, but after that there is not much of a queue. Before the dining room opened (at 5.45) there would be a group of maybe 20 people milling around, but then went in within a couple of minutes and then when any turned up there might be a couple of people receiving hand sanitiser, but no queue as such. On the occasions when we turned up closer to 6pm there was no-one waiting at all. The staff seemed to be quite relaxed if someone rolled up a bit late. Also the important point is that (on the Sun Princess anyway) on shore days when sailaway was 5pm or later, dinner was open sitting. As most port sailaways are non-events, I never see that as a problem. Our main objection to late dinner is that we don't like to go to bed with a full stomach. Dinner from 6pm to 7pm, followed by a show then bed suits us well. I see the point that Barry made, but we don't want to wander around for another couple of hours after having a late dinner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Armchair Cruiser Posted September 14, 2011 #24 Share Posted September 14, 2011 The whole point of the original post was that we were losing precious shore time and the opportunity to briefly participate in most sailaways for this port intensive cruise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aus Traveller Posted September 15, 2011 #25 Share Posted September 15, 2011 The whole point of the original post was that we were losing precious shore time and the opportunity to briefly participate in most sailaways for this port intensive cruise. I don't see that you either lose port time or miss anything by having dinner around 6pm. Most sail-aways are before dinner time and, except for the original one at the start of the cruise, they are virtually all non-events. Keep in mind that all passengers have to be on board at least 30 minutes (often closer to an hour) before sail-away. If you decided to board at the last minute you still have time to get changed for dinner and still see sail-away (if you are so inclined). If sail away is close to dinner time and you really don't want to miss it, you can go to dinner after that if they do as I have usually experienced and have open sitting on port days that have sailaway in the late afternoon/early evening. Once the cruise is under way if you find the dinner time you have selected is not the right one for you, just see the maitre d' about changing. No problem. :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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